Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item :https://hdl.handle.net/2066/160907

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Subject:

Institute for Management Research

Organization:

Organisatie-ontwikkeling

Journal title:

Icfai Journal of Knowledge Management

Volume:

vol. 20

Issue:

iss. 2

Page start:

p. 327

Page end:

p. 343

Abstract:

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to assess whether social capital explains level and quality of
knowledge sharing in globally distributed execution. More specifically, the study examined how
knowledge sharing in combined European–Asian teams of a globally operating engineering and
construction company was affected by these teams’ social capital.
Design/methodology/approach – Social capital was approached via constructs covering its
structural, relational and cognitive dimensions. Data for 325 employees were collected via an online
questionnaire and analysed using multiple regression models.
Findings – The analyses confirm that components of social capital offer powerful explanations of both
the level and the quality of knowledge sharing. The study also found many differences in how social
capital affects the level versus the quality of knowledge sharing and also in how it works in the European
versus the Asian situations. No social capital factor appeared to significantly predict both level and
quality knowledge sharing in the European and Asian situations alike.
Originality/value – This study is novel in empirically establishing how knowledge sharing in globally
distributed execution is affected by teams’ social capital as an integrative construct bringing together
individual and group characteristics.
Keywords Social capital, Multinational companies, Knowledge sharing, Distributed control
Paper type Research paper